All Cochrane Reviews are copy-edited before publication to improve clarity, consistency, accuracy, and completeness. During the course of their work copy-editors encounter a range of editorial and style issues and queries, which can be fed back into the earlier stages of the editorial process, to avoid repeating mistakes and inconsistencies, and ultimately improving the quality of published reviews.

Description:

We will discuss common issues encountered during the copy-editing of Cochrane Reviews, and participants will consider ways of addressing them. We will discuss the appropriate use of resources, such as the Cochrane Style Guide, the MECIR (Methodological Expectations of Cochrane Intervention Reviews) and PLEACS (Plain Language Expectations for Authors of Cochrane Summaries) standards, and copy-editing checklists.

In advance of the workshop, participants will be asked to submit examples of review text that have caused them concern during the course of preparing Reviews for copy editing or during the copy-editing stages, and a selection of these will be used as practical, hands-on examples. During the workshop we will identify areas where further guidance or additional resources would be helpful.